MONKEYZ BLOG

In a few days, Major Leaguers in Florida and Arizona will be breaking camp and opening up the 2015 Major League baseball season. Each team will have gone through the arduous and sometimes tedious process of winnowing their rosters to 25. Presumably, these 25 players represent the best of the best (let’s face it, even…

I make a point of doing regular pro bono work for a number of businesses and organizations. Some of it’s purely voluntary because it’s the right thing to do, while some of my efforts are at least partially motivated by a desire to further my business prospects. While I’d like to claim my motivations are…

I make a point of doing regular pro bono work for a number of businesses and organizations. Some of it’s purely voluntary because it’s the right thing to do, while some of my efforts are at least partially motivated by a desire to further my business prospects. While I’d like to claim my motivations are…

Can you feel it? The sun’s rays are warmer, the Santa Ana winds are dying down, and soon crocuses and other early bloomers will be on full display. Spring is definitely in the air. With each spring comes a sense of renewal. Though we in southern California don’t have the seasonal shifts our friends to…

Can you feel it? The sun’s rays are warmer, the Santa Ana winds are dying down, and soon crocuses and other early bloomers will be on full display. Spring is definitely in the air. With each spring comes a sense of renewal. Though we in southern California don’t have the seasonal shifts our friends to…

The smartphone and tablet wars are ongoing. Every 6 to 12 months, we get a new barrage of tantalizing photos and cryptic descriptions of the latest this and the latest that—sleek new gadget designs and powerful new software that promise to be bigger, better, faster. In all honesty, though, it all seems a bit “more…

The smartphone and tablet wars are ongoing. Every 6 to 12 months, we get a new barrage of tantalizing photos and cryptic descriptions of the latest this and the latest that—sleek new gadget designs and powerful new software that promise to be bigger, better, faster. In all honesty, though, it all seems a bit “more…

Mardi Gras seemed to come and go this year with little fanfare. In fact, if New Orleans hadn’t been featured as a backdrop to some of my favorite TV shows, I might not have noticed its arrival and departure at all—though I do recall seeing an online feature on Rio de Janeiro’s “Carnival” celebration .…

It’s not easy to stay focused—not in a world that seems to be moving at a million miles per hour, not in a world in which we are bombarded with endless news cycles that feed us stories ranging from deadly snow and cold in the northeast to ISIS beheadings in the Middle East to romantic…

With a personal slogan of “More Creativity, More Ideas, More Fun!” and a company logo that feature’s a blue monkey with a big, wide grin, it should come as no surprise that humor finds its way into my social media posts and blogs quite often. Humor is an important part of who I am and thus…

While I didn’t really have a “dog” in this show—my favorite team, the Oakland Raiders haven’t even got a whiff of the playoffs in a decade plus—being a west coaster, I was rooting for the Seattle Seahawks to be crowned champions again this year. One miracle catch had them poised to repeat, but a questionable…

I was reading an online article this week about scientists studying how chimpanzees communicate. For this particular study, researchers spent 750 hours observing chimps and analyzing their vocalizations. What they found is that chimps indeed do “talk” to one another using a “variety of vocalizations, but also facial expressions and gestures.” Unsurprisingly, most of their…

Inevitably, once the NFL playoffs hit, individuals, married couples, small business owners, and corporate financial types start hauling out the previous year’s receipts, bank statements, and other tax records. It’s a sure sign that tax season has arrived: W2s and 1099s and Mortgage Interest statements are crossing in the mail; numbers are getting crunched and…

It was “swearing-in time” in Washington DC this past week, as well as for state legislatures around the country. Newly-elected and returning senators and representatives smiled for the cameras, swore their oaths, and took their seats. It was a fairly drama-free exercise, especially since it was a mid-term election cycle, meaning there was no Presidential…

One of my long-time brand “heroes” let me down over the holidays. No, it wasn’t the fact that the item I ordered didn’t make it in time for Christmas, though that was the case. Nor was it the fact that this long-time ecommerce vendor failed to plan adequately for the inevitable holiday deluge of orders.…

The end of another year is upon us, and a new one is about to begin. How did 2014 treat you? How did you treat 2014? Were you a wallflower, or did you join-in? Sure, the world had its ups and downs, but for me, 2014 was fantastic: I got engaged, got married, welcomed baby…